A military spouse's take on blooming where you are planted. I continue to pretend I am living on my dream farm while in reality, I live on a military base, gardening in a plot alongside a Navy flightline, with half of my homesteading supplies perpetually packed in boxes and have a habit of being overly involved in every community we live in. I'm a busy mom to 2 boys and a spouse to a Navy sailor soon nearing retirement. I love this chaotic life wouldn't trade it for anything!

right now

May 10, 2012

It always comes back to the kids :)

All of a sudden it seems, the garden is spewing produce!

This came in really handy since it is Teacher Appreciation Week and I had no idea what I was going to give as gifts. I'm terrible at remembering such things, my own anniversary and birthday included, so when the kids asked what they were giving their teachers, I had to act fast.

Worked out perfectly, walked out into the garden and was accosted with all this stuff and an hour later after weighing, washing and bagging it I was left with some pretty nice gifts. Nice if you happen to like cheap gifts LOL! I did include a little jar of homemade strawberry jam as well :)

You are going to love this one - a family down the street is stealthily keeping 3 goats, 2 pigs, ducks AND a peacock in their backyard. Yeah, looks like the time is ripe for me to get started doesn't it? Anything I do will probably pale in comparison in the eyes of city code LOL. Anyway... I went to have lunch with Finnegan at school and the little girl in that family is in his class and she saw the turnips I had with me for the teacher and said "my pigs like your turnips" and asked if I had any extra for her pigs. Yes, she was about the cutest thing ever haha! I told her to come over after school. She showed up at the door promptly at 3 pm and Finn and his buddy from next door helped her carry all those insect chewed turnip greens with some rogue misshapen ones down the street.

How cute is this?

I sent Finnegan with my camera down the street with instructions to take pics for the blog, here's what came back, a little close-up I'd say...

Apparently they feed the pigs by dumping stuff on their backs LOL

Loch had his own project going on at his after-school Garden Club, after doing some maintenance and weeding they had time to whip up some homemade insect repellent. I think he said it has witch hazel, citronella oil, and "some other stuff".

This sort of relates to the kids as well, since I am so busy running around lately for them that we have no time to eat decently, so I spent a solid 3 hours or so making up some freezer meals. Seems a pain to be inside cooking when it's so nice outside, but it will be worth it for a no stress dinners.

Lasagna

Chicken Enchiladas, one of the kids' favorites!

We had to have one pan right away last night :)

P.S.: Finn said the other day "I petted goats and played with pigs, am I in trouble?" Bahahaha, my only requirement is that he washes his hands when he comes home - jeez, what kind of mama does he think he has? Did he really think I'd get mad for "playing with pigs"?!!

19 comments:

How on earth do you keep a peacock secret? They are one of the loudest and strangest sounding birds around! Boy I sure would have liked getting that produce if I were a teacher. You can only use so many coffee mugs.

Jane, I'm hoping the teachers think along those lines LOL! You know, I never even knew peacocks made noise, they are new to me. I know they can be mean and a nuisance down in FL but that's the extent of it LOL. She did get a wildlife rehab permit, and although it doesn't apply to the farmish animals maybe the peacock has vocal issues hahahaha!

Methinks you now have a permanent place to get rid of any unwanted produce! (It oughta be worth a package of pork chops at least!)

Great, great, great gift for the teachers!

I was wondering the same thing as Jane . . . how the heck do you keep a peacock under wraps?? I sure hope they're able to keep their livestock without any hassle from the powers-that-be. So . . . when are YOUR chickens arriving?

Mama Pea, see my reply to Jane about the peacock, although now i have to google what noise they make and listen since I've never heard one! It's awesome redneck down there, she has the goats under a truck bed-cap LOL, and one morning I drove down the street and the 3 little goats were munching in some random front yard... I could really get used to this! She was worried about someone saying something and I told her "at least you are safe with me, when ya getting a cow?" LOL...

Oh man, I would LOVE to know how much land they have and how they manage to hide things. Granted my next door neighbor hates my garden and is a huge b**ch so I'd never get away with it, but a girl's gotta dream.

Hi Nikki! It's a unique street I will say, even though we are in a city we are a dead end street, half zoned commercial warehouse type businesses, the other half is all duplex houses, but everyone has at least 1/10 of an acre lot, some have up to 1/4 acre. We are also surrounded by a Naval Air Station so we aren't near any "new developments" or anyone with HOA's that would object. I'm sorry your neighbor is such a "Debbie Downer" - really, who could hate a garden? This world today...

Undercover pigs and goats. How hysterically funny! Or maybe I'm just easily amused today. I'm finally trying to play catch up with things after the last few whirlwind days here. Your produce is great! As a former teacher- I would have loved it! Yeah, there are only so many coffee mugs and note pads you can use. Our elementary teachers out here usually send a letter out a few times a year (before Christmas and about now) asking that donations be made to the local food bank or other charity rather than gifts. I think that is pretty cool as well. One year we donated 20 lbs of fresh fruit to the food bank in honor of all the teachers.

If you help feed the pig do you think you'll get some pork later? Just thinking.I'd love your teacher gifts. Who wouldn't love some fresh produce? It will be weeks before I'll have any of my own lettuces and it's so expensive in the stores. Plus when you grow it yourself it tastes better cause it's fresher and you know what's been put on the soil and the plants.Sounds like a fun place to live having a neighbour with all those animals. Better than a petting zoo.

just don't invite piggies over ,you will have the big bad wolf down on you( city officials) but hey go for a couple chickens ,ducks,what are you getting anyways? good job ,boys,pretty soon they will have there own blog like farm boy Iggy

I think it is awesome that the family is keeping goats and pigs. We live in a subdivision and are really not supposed to keep livestock, but there is a family close by that has chickens (we hear the rooster every morning) and somebody is keeping goats. How do I know? My friend found one wandering around one day and had to locate the owners. ;-)Great teacher appreciation gifts by the way!

I love all of the pictures and the teacher gifts. I, too, am wondering how on Earth they are keeping a peacock in secret because they get LOUD. Does she pass it off as her kids being goofy or what???? lol

I also second/third/etc. everyone who said you need chickens now. And maybe rabbits. And a goat. I can keep going. :D

I'm guessing, with the fairly constant sound of Airforce maneuvers overhead, that no one really notices the peacock. I just love people who have these 'illegal' farms! And I LOVE that you sent fresh produce to teachers. Honestly, I would love to be on the receiving end of that lettuce!

OMG, I was so happy when my neighbors (2 blocks away!) got rid of their peacocks! They scream like a woman in pain...very jarring on the nerves. I don't mind their rooster crowing, but peacock screams are something else. Love hearing about the Adventures of Loch and Finn!

Follow my Feed

Follow by Email

WHAT'S MY STORY?

Welcome! I'm a native Minnesota girl, Mom, Navy Veteran as well as a Navy spouse for the past 15 years. I am also a Certified Master Gardener that got the rug pulled out from under me 2 years ago... we transferred from a Virginia home with a huge garden into government quarters with a concrete back yard at our current duty station. Even when I can't garden, I'm dreaming of it. When I'm not getting dirty in the garden, I quilt, organize things, make lists, make more lists, go sailing and volunteer with the high school sailing team my kids are on. Only a couple more years until military retirement, we need a plan!

our current home

Why the blog name?

Military life likes to throw wrenches into plans. Too many years of thinking "I'll start a garden someday"… someday with a bigger house, a nicer yard, climate, etc, etc - I just decided to DO IT and and worry about the logistics later! We are living the oxymoron of homesteading for the mobile military family and pulling it off the best we can. Follow our adventures as we carry our homestead wherever we go!